A-Ball Wednesday: Logan Verrett Does Not Believe in Walks

The Mets had just four hits, and RF Cory Vaughn, who was 1-for-3 with a double, had the only extra-base knock.

RHP Logan Verrett had a strong outing: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. In six starts in the FSL, Verrett, the Mets’ third round pick a year ago, has a 2.09 ERA, driven by the fact that he hasa 0.88 WHIP. He’s walked FOUR batters in 38.2 innings, a walk rate of 2.7. That’s a remarkable degree of control. All the same, I look at strikeout rate first, and here, he’s fanned 26 batters, a rate of 17%. That’s a little low. I really want to see a pitcher in advanced-A striking out a batter an inning – in the 20-25% range. I don’t know how this “all strikes, few strikeouts” plan will play in AA or the big leagues.

Miller Diazcame up from Kingsport to make his first start in the SAL and he did not get a whole lot of help from his defense in a game in which the Gnats committed five errors: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, although he also balked twice. The 20-year old Diaz struck out over a batter an inning in Kingsport out of a sturdy frame, listed at 6’1″ and 210 lbs.